Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

Objections Greece, 11-11-2022

The Government of the Hellenic Republic has examined the declaration made by the Republic of Türkiye upon ratification, on 10 November 2021, of the Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, adopted in Kigali, on 15 October 2016. The Republic of Türkiye thereby declares that its ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol ‘should in no way be construed as implying any obligation on the part of Turkey to enter into any dealing with the countries that Turkey has no diplomatic relations within the framework of UN Environment Program activities’. In the view of the Government of the Hellenic Republic, this declaration in fact amounts to a reservation, as it unilaterally purports to release the Republic of Türkiye from its obligation to cooperate with other States Parties within the framework of the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. It is noted in this regard that the obligations of cooperation enshrined therein, constitute one of the essential elements of these instruments, as already stressed in the preamble to the Convention, according to which measures to protect the ozone layer from modifications due to human activities require international co- operation and action. The Government of the Hellenic Republic would like to recall that according to Article 18 of the 1985 Vienna Convention and the corresponding Article 18 of the 1987 Montreal Protocol reservations are prohibited. In the light of the above, the Government of the Hellenic Republic considers that the aforementioned reservation of the Republic of Türkiye is inadmissible, as prohibited by Article 18 of the Vienna Convention and Article 18 of the 1987 Montreal Protocol and as incompatible with the object and purpose of these treaties. For the above reasons, the Government of the Hellenic Republic objects to the declaration made by the Republic of Türkiye upon ratification of the Kigali Amendment. This objection shall not preclude the entry into force of the said Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, in its entirety, between the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Türkiye.